


Water under the bridge

by Wordlesslywriting



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Romance, Fictober, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Pre-Relationship, confused Tsukishima, midnight strolling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 00:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12399471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordlesslywriting/pseuds/Wordlesslywriting
Summary: “Were you really that unhinged?” With his wound?Tsukishima was a bit of at a loss, the way Ushijima looked at him. “It’s fine.” He looked at his bandaged fingers. “Water under the bridge.”





	Water under the bridge

**Author's Note:**

> I found a random list of fictober prompts a while back. So then naturally my ass started thinking about new fanfic ideas and boom, this came out. I hope ya'll enjoy this as much as I had fun writing this. 
> 
> (I miss writing about this pairing.)
> 
> Prompt Used: Midnight Hide & Seek

It had been a wild chase, one where Tsukishima felt like he was reeling from a phantom adrenaline as he continued through school and volleyball practice. There was this wrath of untouched energy that automatically infused into his daily routines. It felt like it had been too long since his passion ensued his limbs. There was something there; an unmistakable inclination to keep on working. It unnerved him. The way the match against Shiratorizawa jerked at him. It gave him a new sense of direction.

Years of an unspoken despair had finally snapped. Now Tsukishima had this new perspective on wanting to become stronger on the court. To show himself that there was a reason he dedicated his own time with the Karasuno volleyball team. Why he made the choice to bruise and damage his own body for the title of champions. He had once thought of winning in a club as wasted effort.

But now, when he finally moved past his old wounds, he saw it.

The chance to live on with few regrets. With the days passing slowly his healing made Tsukishima use his time wisely. Setting his training to a fluttering pace he appreciated his muscles stretching and aching from his various productive sessions. Somewhere in that time Yamaguchi saw the difference within him; the way Tsukishima's smiles grew more genuine with his teasing. It was almost left unnoticed. (Though to be fair, only a small group of people were able to pick up on Tsukishima's slow transformation of verbalizing his subtle compassion.)

Walking late at night was a new thing. There was just a sudden impulse to grab a sweatshirt and his phone that was still connected to his headphones and start walking mindlessly. It was serene; in the way that it gave him ample time to reflect his own thoughts. The street lamps' glows made the world feel dejected as there were hardly any loud noises to immerse or distract his train of thought. It gave him space to concentrate on his own breathing as he tried his best to find answers of questions he didn't know exist until recently

The playlist was still on shuffle blasting on a retro track when he felt it.

He wasn’t alone.

Glancing forward he saw a figure sitting on a bench, it looked like the stranger didn’t notice his presence yet, as they hardly moved an inch to indicate a possible awkward exchange of stares. Pausing, Tsukishima made a quick surveillance of the street in front of him before making a conscious decision to j-walk it. As he started making his way he heard a voice. One that strangely was familiar. He didn’t stop his brisk stride, rather he dragged his feet to the other side while pretending he didn’t hear anything in hopes he didn't have to interact with anyone this late at night. The voice stopped after two failed attempts, Tsukishima promptly called it a night and went home.

He didn’t bother mentioning his new nightly walks to Yamaguchi. (He should of have.)

Two nights later it happened again. He was in the middle of passing a bus stop when he saw a large figure walking ahead of him. At first, Tsukishima wondered if he should have tried another street before he found himself recognizing who the figure was…

“Shiratorizawa’s Ace.” His voice may have not been as loud compared to Hinata’s but, with the current time it was enough for the person to turn around.

He caught Ushijima’s stare quickly. Tsukishima stumbled with his feet before apologizing in haste as he left the scene. With his body thumbing in hyper attention he got back to his home in record time. It didn’t make sense. Why did he run away? He wasn’t some weirdo that was scared of him. But then, why did his heart start acting up? (Tsukishima got the answer three weeks later.)

But before he realized why, he found himself bumping into Ushijima again the next midnight stroll. The streets were bare, with no cars driving. His headphones were strangely not plugged in to his phone but hung around his neck for comfort. Just as he was relaxing in his pace he caught sight of olive eyes. In the back of his mind, he could tell he was starting to sweat and burn. The silence between them was a little too uncomfortable

“Tsukishima Kei?” Ushijima begun.

He nodded in apprehension.

“How are you doing?”

The tension was still laced in the air and their body language but that didn’t stop him from scoffing internally from disbelief. It was surreal having to witness someone like Ushijima having trouble with social cues when he had a first account of meeting him on the court. He was a completely different person (yet, it perfectly fit to have this kind of combination to create Ushijima).

“I’m okay.”

That didn’t mean that he knew why it was somehow difficult to look directly at Ushijima.

Ushijima’s face was hard to decipher. On one hand, it looked like he was indifferent and bored with their conversation. But then, Tsukishima's gut gave him the sense that Ushijima was overthinking everything he spewed out to him. It was annoying how all that unease was high-jacking his own thought process as he listened to Ushijima’s signals (both verbal and non).

“That’s good to hear.”

It didn’t escape him, he noticed Ushijima’s discomfort was regarded to Tsukishima’s bandaged hand. He tested out his little theory by making his injured hand more visible and flexed it, earning a hiss under his breath. Ushijima’s eyes harden and soften in guilt as a response.

“Seriously, it’s not a big deal.” He insisted again.

“What?”

It caught Tsukishima off guard that an essential stranger he once played against apologized to him so quickly. As if… “Were you really that unhinged?” With his wound?

Tsukishima didn’t know how to respond as he couldn’t pinpoint or accurately describe how he was feeling now. He didn’t know him that well and neither could Tsukishima understand what was going on Ushijima’s guilt. It happened in the middle of a heated game, there was always a risk among each game that someone’s luck could drop and hell would be ensured. It wasn’t like his injury would leave permanent damage.

Still.

Tsukishima was a bit of a loss, the way Ushijima looked at him. “I’m fine.” He looked at his bandaged fingers. “Water under the bridge.”

Ushijima wasn’t convinced but forced himself to nod. They didn’t say anything for a few beats until a car passed and a random dog barked. “Are you sure there isn’t something that I can do?”

Tsukishima bit his lip as he sighed deeply. He started to take a step back and he strained his head up to see the night sky. “Not really. Nothing really comes to mind.”

He chanced a glance to him.

“It was my choice to sacrifice my fingers to win the game. Besides," he tucked his hand into his pocket carefully. “It’s healing just fine.”

“I can um, help you with…your spikes.” Ushijima looked hopeful.

“Yeah…sure.” He found himself unable to decline the offer. “When I’m fully healed.”

Ushijima didn’t bother to hide the small smile from him as he produced a cell phone right away.

“Great.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't be shy and talk to me at my tumblr, @goshiyachi. That includes if you want to request rare pairings. I loved to interact and fill the rare pair tags in tumblr and in Ao3. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧


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